Temptation

The air in Adrian's office carried a heavy scent of desire, the weight of their shared moment still clinging to every surface. 

Lily's hands trembled as she hurriedly began buttoning her blouse, her fingers fumbling over the tiny fastenings. Her mind raced, each thought sharper and louder than the last.

What have I done?

Adrian sat back in his chair, still shirtless, his hair scattered from the way she held it during the moment. His dark eyes followed her every move, his gaze glueing on to her like a weight. 

He said nothing at first, letting the silence stretch between them. But his calmness only made Lily more guilty.

She grabbed her bag, packing loose strands of her hair into place with shakily movements. Her reflection in the sleek glass of the office window caught her attention for a brief second. 

The woman staring back at her was someone she barely recognized. Her lips, still swollen from his kisses, shaking..

Adrian finally broke the silence, his voice low but strong. "What are you doing?"

"Leaving," Lily replied , avoiding his gaze as she bent to pick up her shoes from where they had been discarded. "This was…" Her voice caught, and she swallowed hard. "This was a mistake."

Adrian's chair made sounds as he stood, his footsteps deliberate as he closed the distance between them. Before she could make it to the door, his hand grabbed her wrist, stopping her escape. 

She froze, her breath stopping at the feel of his touch. It was gentle, yet unyielding.

"Look at me," he said softly.

She hesitated, her eyes fixed on the floor, but his persistence won out. When she finally met his eyes, the intensity in his dark eyes made her heart weak. "Why are you acting like we just committed a crime?"

Lily forced her wrist free, the heat of his skin clinging on hers. "Because we did, Adrian," she snapped, her voice rising as anger and shame grew within her. 

"I have a fiancé. I'm engaged to Ethan, remember? And now… now I've betrayed him. Because of you."

He stepped closer, his eyebrows drawing together in frustration. "Because of me? Don't put this all on me, Lily. Whatever this is between us, it's not one-sided. You can't deny that."

She let out a bitter laugh, shaking her head. "It doesn't matter. It doesn't change what just happened." Her voice shaked but she pressed on. "This was nothing but a mistake, Adrian. A terrible, selfish mistake."

Adrian's expression changed, his hands folding into fists at his sides. He looked as though he wanted to argue, but instead, he took a calming breath. "You're running away. That's what you always do, isn't it?"

Lily just kept staring at him, her eyes filled with unshed tears. "I'm not running. I'm fixing the mess we made. The lawyer will be here tomorrow with the divorce papers. 

You'll sign them, and this…" She said vaguely between them, her voice shaking. "This will all be over. We'll move on and pretend none of it ever happened."

Adrian's expression hardened, his usual composed attitude breaking. "You really think you can just erase this? Pretend you didn't feel anything?"

Her throat caught in her chest as she fought to maintain her composure. "I have to, Adrian. I don't have a choice."

He stepped back, letting his arms fall to his sides. The room felt very cold without his closeness, but Lily forced herself to ignore the ache in her chest. She turned on her heel, holding on her bag as if it were a lifeline, and headed toward the door.

"Lily."

His voice stopped her as she made her way to the door. For a moment, she didn't move, her back to him, her hand holding the doorknob.

 He didn't say anything else, and she didn't dare look back. She couldn't. If she saw the look in his eyes again, she might not have the strength to leave.

So she just opened the door and stepped out, closing it softly behind her. she realized she was shaking. She didn't stop walking until she was outside, the hustle and bustle sounds of the city filling the empty void left by her pounding heart.

The tears she tried to hold back finally spilled over, coming down her cheeks as she stopped a cab. The driver barely looked at her as she gave her address, her voice barely heard. 

She sank into the back seat, her hands holding her knees as she looked out the window, her mind replaying every moment of the past hour.

By the time she reached her apartment, she was quiet. The walls seemed to close in on her as she collapsed onto her couch, closing her face with her hands. 

Guilt twisted in her stomach, sharp and unstoppable. Ethan's face appeared in her mind, his smile, his laugh, the way he'd always looked at her with such unending trust.

She has shattered that trust tonight. And for what? For a little moment of passion that had left her more broken than before.

Her phone rang on the coffee table, pulling her from her thoughts. She hesitated before picking it up, her heart sinking when she saw Ethan's name on the screen.

 Her thumb raised over the answer button, but she couldn't bring herself to press it. Instead, she let the call go to voicemail, her eyes fixed on the glowing screen until it stopped.

Lily leaned back, looking at the ceiling as silent tears poured down her face. Tomorrow would come soon enough, and with it, the divorce papers. She will make Adrian sign them. She will end this nightmare and try to piece her life back together.

But as she lay there in the suffocating quiet, one thought refused to leave her mind. No matter how much she tried to deny it, she could not escape the truth.

Adrian had raised something in her, something she had buried long ago. And no matter how hard she tried, she could not undo what had already been done.

Her phone rang again, with a tone that cut through the silence. Frustrated, she reached for it, ready to turn it off for the night. But as she unlocked the screen, what she saw shocked her to the core.

A new text message stared back at her. The words, short and sharp, made her blood run cold:

Don't even think about divorcing Adrian. You'll regret it if you do.

Her heart melted against her chest as she reread the message again, her hands shaking so violently she nearly dropped the phone on the floor. 

The shadows in the room seemed darker now, as if they were reaching toward her. She looked closely at the sender's number, but it was unrecognizable. No name. No hint of who would have sent it.

Her breaths came in short and shallow, panic spreading through her chest like fire. Who could have sent this? And how did they know about the divorce?

Her eyes looked all around the room, searching the dully lit corners as if someone might step out of the darkness. She grabbed the phone again, holding it tightly, as if it could offer her some sort of answer or protection.

But there was nothing. Only silence. And the creepy realization that someone was watching her.

The phone slipped from her hands onto her couch. Lily sat still frozen from it, her heart pounding so hard it hurt. 

Whoever it was, they did not just know about the divorce. They didn't want her to go through with it.

And judging by the cruelty in those words, they did not seem like they were going to let her go so easily.